


The Burning Depths

by qwanderer



Series: Rarepair Prompt Fills [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bruce and Fitz are wary of submarines, F/M, Jane and Jemma are cousins, Marvel RarePair Exchange, and Jane's mom is a kickass marine biologist, this should be a thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-01
Updated: 2014-08-01
Packaged: 2018-02-11 07:56:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2060154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwanderer/pseuds/qwanderer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are only a few things that would get these two men into a deep-sea submersible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Burning Depths

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning: This ends kind of abruptly. It was all I came up with, though.
> 
> The person who this was originally intended for dropped out of the Rarepair Exchange, so the sequel is a vignette about one of the side-pairings in this story that the pinch-hitter mentioned in their prompt.

So apparently, this time there really _was_ going to be a submerged pressurized metal container. Because of course he'd jinxed himself by using those words. 

It had been some really nice after-dinner socialization that the phone call had interrupted, too, more relaxed than things had been at the Tower for a few weeks now. There were no more urgent rescues of SHIELD agents waiting under imminent threat and praying for extraction on their list, and Steve's worried forehead had finally smoothed out. Natasha was teaching him to dance in the middle of Tony's living room, a little more free with her smiles than she had been of late. Pepper and Tony were dancing as well, relaxed, slow and just a bit tipsy, and Bruce had never seen the man so quiet as he was in her arms. Clint and Sam were playing paper football amidst the remains of the meal on the table, and occasionally yelling encouragement at the dancers when Steve and Natasha pulled off a particularly impressive move. 

So Bruce wasn't really in the middle of anything particular, and in fact part of his mind was itching for distraction, when he answered his phone. 

It was a video call from Jane Foster, and he answered it gladly. They'd corresponded a couple of times on the subject of portal physics, and she was smart, and always had the most interesting questions for him. 

The minute he connected, the excited glow of her face told him that today would be no exception to that. 

"Bruce," she told him. "I was on a completely unrelated undersea expedition, and you will never guess what I found. I think it's a portal. I think it's one of Loki's paths-between-worlds. But it's gonna be tricky to study, seeing as it's below the Titanic site depth, just inside the Alvin limit. I'd love to have you working on-site." 

Bruce blinked. "You. Want me. In an Alvin-class submarine. With other people?" He sighed and pinched his nose. "It really does sound fascinating, but... what about Erik?" 

"I _tried_ to get him to come, but he really won't. Says he's had enough of being submerged in blue and subjected to irresistible pressure. Which... I guess I can understand." She looked very disappointed and slightly skeptical. "Anyway I'd really like a second set of eyes on this, someone who's familiar with Asgardian technolgy and portals between the Realms." 

"Who's running this operation?" Bruce asked, knowing SHIELD wasn't a thing anymore and not wanting to get involved with any _more_ shady organizations, governmental or otherwise. Not that he was seriously considering this whole thing, he told himself. 

"Grants are from the Royal Society and NERC, we've got some support from Stark Industries and normally I wouldn't tell you to trust corporate money but I'm thinking you've got some leverage in that area. Site's being managed by Judith Appleby, I don't know if you keep up with marine biology but anyway, she's my mom, she's cool. We didn't expect to find anything like this so as far as I know, no governments are aware of it yet. You wouldn't get tangled up in any of that if we can help it." 

"That's good to know," Bruce answered, "but that's not actually my primary concern. It'd be the three of us in an Alvin-class? Are you both fully aware of the risks involved in that?" 

"Actually we've got a five-person capacity in our current DSV and I'm hoping to get a couple more people on board. We'll read everyone in on all the risks, including your little... gamma issue. But honestly, I really don't think that anyone prepared to dive under four thousand meters of water for the sake of scientific curiosity is going to pass up the chance to work with Bruce Banner." 

Her face was filled with such honest entreaty, and he was finding it very difficult to resist her persuasion. But he really shouldn't do this. 

His lips pressed together as he gathered his resolve. "I'm sorry, Jane," he said, shaking his head. "I really can't...." 

There was a Tony-face hovering over his left shoulder. He could see it smirking at him from the tiny transmitting-signal square. He sighed, and turned to face the insufferable genius. 

"Who ya talking to, Brucey?" the man asked innocently. 

"Hello, Mr. Stark," said Jane from the phone. "I'm Jane Foster. I don't know if you've been following my work, but...." 

"Doctor Foster! Of course. You dealt with that little convergence problem that London had a few months back, catalogued the signs of the Bifrost before we knew it was a thing, and of course that paper on planetary ionization during supernova... and now for some reason you're borrowing the STARK deep submersible?" 

She shrugged. "Side project, working with my mom for a little bit... but we found a portal... well, we _think_ it's a portal. We'd really need to get more expert eyes on it. You know the Tesseract theory, right?" 

Tony grinned and clapped a hand to Bruce's shoulder. "Really wish I could, but I can't. Still a lot of cleaning up to do after the whole... SHIELD... thing." He moved his hands expressively. "But we're just about done with the parts that involve smashing or the threat of radiation exposure, so I think we could spare you a pretty great physicist." 

"Tony..." Bruce sighed. "This is not a good idea. It's really not." 

"Sure it is!" Tony told him, and Jane nodded encouragingly. 

"We'd really love to have you," Jane told him from the phone. 

Bruce closed his eyes briefly, wishing his life was just a little bit simpler. 

"I'll think about it," was what he finally said. "I'll let you know tomorrow." 

Jane grinned, satisfied, and signed off. 

It was going to be a long night. 

* * *

The Bus was similarly relaxed that night, the team sitting around and nibbling on their pizza crusts. Skye alternated between looking at her phone and chatting with the others; she'd taken to flirting with Trip, and the smiles they'd been directing at each other lit up the whole room. 

Jemma was, as usual, as close as she could get to Fitz without being in his wheelchair with him, oriented towards him and keeping a close eye for those little things he kept finding he could no longer do, that could frustrate him so much. 

So when her phone chirped at her, it startled her quite a bit. "Oh!" she said, jerking upright and reaching into her pocket. "Oh, it's Janey!" She broke into a grin and accepted the call. "Hello, Janey!" she said, waving at the face that appeared on the screen. 

"Jems!" the face replied, equally excited and energetic. "You will _never_ guess what I found at Mom's expedition site." 

Jemma's eyes widened. "Oh, you've been working with Aunt Judy? What is she up to now that has you so excited?" 

Jane's face did a sideways sort of thing, contemplating how much to say about the circumstances. "Well, I was between... _things..._ of my own and she was getting this interesting radiological data, and I thought, hey, why not go down with her and take a look, but I never expected... Jems, it's got all the signs of a singularity, a portal, maybe, like the ones I've been studying, like the one in New York. But it's down at, like, four thousand meters under the North Atlantic. We've got _no idea_ what might be down there, what might come through from the other side. And I was thinking... we've got a couple of spots left on the sub, and you're the only person I'd trust with this who has any kind of hands-on experience with xenobiology." 

Jemma put a hand to her heart and just gaped for a minute. "Janey! That's incredible! And you - you want me to come?" 

"Yes. Jems! Of course I want to share this with you. You were right there with me every summer when I was spending time with Mom and getting caught up in her work, learning to love science. Of course I want you to come on another adventure with the two of us! You're my adventuring partner!" Jane's accent started to slip in the direction of her mother's English one, instead of the very American one that her father and all her schoolmates had had. 

The two cousins had identical gleeful grins as they gazed at each other through their phones. Then Jemma's smile slipped a bit, and she looked at Fitz, whose tiny smile valiantly attempted to hide apprehension. 

Jemma sighed. "I would love to, Janey, but I can't. The team needs me right now. Shield needs me." 

"No, we don't," Skye scoffed in the background. "We could get along without you for a while. Besides, that sounds important. Portals, possible aliens? Isn't that what we _do_?" 

Jemma set her chin. "Well, I won't leave Fitz." 

Fitz shook his head. "You shouldn't give up an opportunity like this. I'll be all right. The rest of the team will be here. Right?" 

"Right!" said Skye and Trip, their nods in eerie unison. May even nodded from her corner. 

Jemma bit her lips. "I don't want to leave you behind. Not ever again." 

"Jems," said Jane from the phone, which had been drooping as Jemma looked around the room at the people here. "There _is_ another spot, and we could use a tech guy." 

Jemma held the phone up again, and blinked at it for a moment. 

"I think the two of us may have already spent enough time sealed up in a metal box deep underwater," she finally said, regret coloring her voice. "I can't ask him to do that." 

"I'm up for it," Fitz said defiantly. "If you'd really want me, Doctor Foster. I'm not up to my usual dexterity levels at the moment. It depends what exactly you'd need me to do." 

Jane waved a hand dismissively, which he just barely caught sight of on the tiny screen. "Don't worry about that," she said. "I'm familiar with most of the equipment we've got available, I've built or rebuilt most of it. But we have no idea what kind of conditions exist on the other side of the portal, and if we need to adapt equipment to something really unusual? I'll need someone to consult with who's more of a general hardware guy, rather than someone who's used to making stuff for specific sets of conditions." 

Fitz nodded. "I could probably do that," he said. 

"Fitz, are you really all right with this?" Jemma asked, taking one of his hands and squeezing it. "I can't imagine you'd really be comfortable in a submersible after... everything." 

"I'd follow you anywhere, you know that," he said with a small smile, returning her squeeze only slightly clumsily. 

"Yes, I do," she said with a solemn smile. She turned back to the phone. "I'm sorry, Janey, I'm afraid I can't." 

"What?" Skye protested. 

"Jemma," Fitz said, "you can't just let this slip by. I know you miss your cousin and you'd adore getting a chance to work with her on a real project. You can't give this up so easily." 

"Yes, I can," she told him placidly. 

He sighed deeply. "Well, will you at least admit that this is something that we should tell the Director about? Portals between worlds, like Skye said, kind of what we do here." 

Jemma frowned. "I suppose you're right about that." 

Skye immediately jumped up. "I'll go up to his office, give him the rundown," she volunteered. 

Simmons raised her eyebrows suspiciously at the other agent. "On the portal situation, of course?" 

"Yeah, of course," Skye said with far too much innocence. 

"All right," Jemma told her. "If that's all." 

Skye waved a hand in acknowledgement as she jogged up the spiral stairs to Coulson's office. 

"Well, either way," Jane said from the tiny screen, "I'd like your input on this." She described the readings they'd found, the way the water around the irregularity was different, not just in terms of radiation, but also things like temperature, acidity, composition. Jemma made fascinated noises, getting lost in the science and losing track of time. Fitz leaned over her shoulder, asking questions about the subs and existing equipment. 

It was about five minutes later that Coulson came down from his office. "Agents," he said casually, to get their attention. 

"Sir," Simmons said, blinking up at him. It had only seemed like a moment ago that Skye had left. Fitz looked up with a smart nod, a little more on-the-ball. 

"Agent Skye informs me that there's been another portal or portal-like occurrence discovered. SHIELD would like to have someone on the ground, so to speak, for a discovery of this magnitude. I understand the two of you have been invited by the existing on-site team. That seems like an opportunity we cannot afford to pass up. Wouldn't you agree?" 

"Yes, Sir," said Fitz immediately, and he looked both happier and distinctly more nervous, swallowing hard. 

"Yes, Director," Simmons said more slowly. "We will represent the interests of SHIELD to the utmost of our ability." 

There was a squealing from her telephone. 

"You're welcome, Dr. Foster," Coulson said in its direction. "And agents?" 

They both looked at him expectantly. 

"Have fun down there." He gave them both a little, conspiratorial smile, before going to the kitchenette and asking May if she'd saved him any pizza. 

Fitz smiled at Simmons, gleeful and amused. "See? Totally necessary. Truthfully I'm glad to have another reason to come along. I wouldn't want to miss this." 

She smiled back softly. "Then I really am glad we're going." 

They resumed their conversation with Jane, this time actively planning, and Coulson picked a mission for the rest of the team (out of the many that still awaited their attention) in northern Europe, so that they could drop their scientists off conveniently at the same time. 

* * *

The five of them met on a dock in Scotland, FitzSimmons meeting Dr. Banner for the first time, and Judy introducing herself energetically to both men. 

"Leo Fitz!" she cried with the same manic energy as her daughter and niece, and an English accent slightly more hearty than smooth. She pumped his hand. "I've heard so much about you. It's a great pleasure to finally meet you." 

"Well, thank you very much, Doctor Appleby," said Fitz, giving her a blushing smile from his chair. 

"I think, given how close you are to my niece, Judith will do just fine, or even Aunt Judy if you like." She beamed at him. "I've heard great things." 

Fitz blinked at her blankly for a moment. "Well," he said. "If you like, I suppose I could do that." 

Meanwhile Jane was introducing Bruce and Jemma. "Bruce, this is my cousin, Dr. Jemma Simmons," she said. "She's SHIELD, so she's in the know, and she's got firsthand experience with some of the... trickier aspects of Chitauri biochemistry, so I know she can pick up alien biology on the fly. So going into the unknown? I really wanted to have her on board." She looked between them. "Oh, right! Jems, this is Bruce Banner. He's got some experience with the portal stuff, and I'm hoping he'll have some input on the unusual radiation readings associated with this phenomenon." 

"Of course, Doctor Banner!" Jemma said, grinning and reaching for his hand to shake it. "I'm really more familiar with your work in the cellular absorption of gamma band EM; it's really quite brilliant, even if the results weren't _quite_ what you might have hoped." 

Bruce made a face full of disbelief and humor as he returned her handshake on autopilot. "Thanks," he replied. "Jemma Simmons? Am I remembering right that you had a piece on the proteins that facilitate the survival of Pompeii worms and their symbiotic bacteria?" 

Jemma smiled, keeping the expression just short of a grin with an effort, for the sake of politeness. "My first doctoral thesis," she acknowledged with a nod. "And I have Aunt Judy to thank for the opportunity to study them. It's really closer to her field than mine." 

"It's your field now too, Jems," Dr. Appleby said, inserting herself in their conversation. "You've more than earned your qualifications. Now Janey, dear, introduce me to your other friend." 

"Dr. Banner, Dr. Appleby," Jane said, gesturing between them. "And Dr. Leopold Fitz." She gestured at Fitz as he rolled up to the rest of the group. 

"Oh, yeah," Bruce said. "Dr. Fitz, Tony's mentioned your work to me, I think. And that's impressive in itself." 

Fitz looked at him with a sort of raptured puppyish hope. "You both talk about me? Bruce Banner and Tony stark? That's great! I mean, Stark's the undisputed king of gadgetry, but you as well! On one of our recent missions, we used your variable-focus coherent gamma beam emitter. Using antimatter as a gain medium? Genius." The engineer gestured excitedly at him. 

"Thanks," Bruce said, an unusual spark of brightness in his responding smile. Then he nodded at their expedition's leader. "Dr. Appleby." 

Judith stepped forward without hesitation to shake his hand, which surprised him. SHIELD agents were one thing, but civilians, civilians who knew who he was, usually weren't so... unhesitating about approaching him. 

"We can drop the 'Doctor's once introductions are done, I think; we're all postdoctoral here. Level playing field, no need for formalities, don't you think? Very glad to have you on board, Banner." 

He gave a small smile. "You could all just call me Bruce." 

Dr. Appleby nodded, seeming incredibly pleased by the offer. "Then I'm Judy." 

Bruce turned to the man in the wheelchair with a raised eyebrow. 

"Everyone calls me Fitz," he answered the implied question. "Think only my mum calls me Leo. But you're welcome to call me whatever you'd like." He still seemed a bit awed by Bruce's presence, but not in an uncomfortable way. 

"I'm Jemma _or_ Simmons," Jemma informed him. "And Fitz and I have been lab partners for long enough that we'll both answer to FitzSimmons, as well." 

Bruce responded to that with a small smile. "Good to know." 

Jane's little family was already starting to grow on him. He hoped the good will would last long enough to get him through the dive without disaster befalling them all. 

* * *

They all toured the vessel, Fitz sending in one of his spybots instead of going through the arduous process of lowering his chair into the submarine, and they went about getting comfortable with their space for the next little while. There would be a surface support ship as well, of course, and next they all boarded the ship and met the crew over lunch, people who'd worked with Judith before and who were all pleased to meet her family and friends (although from some of the looks Bruce was getting, they were just as glad not to be getting in a submarine with the alter-ego of the Hulk). 

They were set to dive that afternoon. After lunch, they lowered all their equipment, including Fitz's chair, with Fitz in it, into the sub, and the ship towed it out to the site. The whole group buzzed with excitement and nervousness, Fitz making jokes, Bruce's eyes darting around the interior of the sub. He tried to focus them on his phone, if not on the data Jane had prepared for him, then at least his sudoku app. But the impending weight of what was about to happen was a little much, even for him. 

When they got to the site, Jane latched the top up tight, and Judy called from the pilot's seat, "Everybody ready?" 

"Yes!" Jane and Jemma answered immediately. 

Bruce took a moment, then nodded tightly. 

Fitz took a deep breath. "Okay, yes. I'm ready." 

"Beginning the descent." She signaled the support vessel to release the heavy iron weights that would drag them down to the bottom of the ocean. 

Bruce closed his eyes and, very carefully, breathed. 

There were four built-in seats in the tiny cabin, the fifth having been removed so that Fitz's wheelchair could be locked to the floor. His legs hadn't been damaged in the accident that had injured his brain and left arm (which was still in a cast), but his sense of balance was still very weak, his coordination limited, and he needed the security and familiarity of his own chair. 

Jemma sat next to him, holding his hand and focusing on his face. They were both here to deal with whatever might be on the other side of the portal, so they had no real work to do, nothing to distract them. 

"Jemma," said Fitz quietly. "I don't know if I can do this." 

"You'll be fine," Simmons answered him, firmly but achingly understanding. "We're not going to be stuck at the bottom, not again. We're with friends; everything is going according to plan. Getting up to the surface again is as easy as flicking a switch and waiting to surface. Okay?" 

"I guess so," he said. His eyes flicked to the control panels, noticing and cataloguing every bit of it that was meant for underwater safety. His hand tightened visibly on Jemma's. "Guess I'll have to be." He swallowed loudly. "You'll be with me either way, right, Jemma?" 

Simmons made a small, slightly distressed noise, and leaned in to pull his face right to hers, to look in his eyes. "Leo. Yes. Of course." 

He blinked in shock at the name, but that was nothing to when her lips pressed against his, soft and warm and comforting. 

"Jemma, you...?" he asked when she pulled away, not sure what he was asking. 

"I'm going to be right here with you, okay?" Her smile treaded the line between bright and soft, not quite carefree. "Whatever you need from me, I'm here." 

Their eyes were bright with tears, and they fell into whispered conversation, and their surroundings fell away from their awareness as they were drawn into their own little world. 

Sitting opposite them, Bruce sighed. 

Jane plopped down into the seat next to him, done with her checks of all the readings and equipment around the cabin. "Well, that... was a long time coming, but the timing's a little surprising," she said conversationally. 

"Convenient, though," Bruce countered, his eyes focusing in on her gratefully. "He's not thinking about our...." His eyes flicked to the corners of the cabin. "...Circumstances any more. I'm guessing I'm not going to be on the receiving end of that kind of distraction today." 

Bruce did not expect her response to be to look at him, seriously and intensely and assessingly. 

"What?" he asked, forehead wrinkling in mild confusion. 

She leaned towards him, pressing her lips to his. 

Well, after a moment he wasn't kissing back, so she pulled back to examine his face. Bruce's face was scrunched up and his eyebrows were drawn together in a rather bemused frown. Jane backpedaled ferociously. 

"I'm sorry, was that not... was that okay? I should have asked. Was that okay with you?" She raked her hair back from her face to have something to do while she waited for a response. 

He looked rather dazed. "No, it's fine, I just... as long as you meant it. The Hulk... doesn't like being teased, or manipulated, so if that was just a distraction...." 

"Oh," she said, eyes widening in understanding. "Well, that's not what that was, at all. Okay?" 

"Okay," he answered. "So you're... um, what about Thor?" 

She waved her hand vaguely and dismissively in the direction of 'up.' "Oh, it's complicated. We fought, we made up, he took me to Asgard again. He proposed in front of tons of people. His 'friend' the Goddess of War got her panties in a bunch about that and started yelling about how he had options who weren't 'fleeting mortals.' He defended our relationship - equally loudly, still in front of a bunch of people, and started talking about what a great queen I'd make. Meanwhile I was just standing there realizing I didn't actually want to be Queen of Asgard, I've just got too much to down here, thank you very much, and everything kind of unraveled from there. Short story, he's with Sif now, and I'm... down here assisting my mom with her undersea expedition while Darcy helps me reapply for all my grants on my own work, now that I can be fairly certain I'll be staying on this planet for at least the next year." She took a huge breath and sighed it out, then said, "Well, depending on where this portal goes and what we decide to do about it. Anyway, I definitely am not down here hiding from the night sky or anything. I just... needed to be working, and this was what came up." 

Bruce's eyes had gone soft and wondering as he listened. It must have taken a formidable personality to stand up to all of that... royalty, and according to some, divinity, and maintain your sense of self, sense of purpose, and express your opinion to people who were known as gods. His look got a little more speculative as her story drew to a close. 

"Couldn't give up the work, not even for him?" he asked, but his expression made it clear that he more than understood. 

"It's my life," she said simply, untangling the mess of cables in the plastic bin beside her absently as she spoke. "What about you, you have anyone? Science get in the way?" 

His eyes kind of boggled at the concept that the Hulk wouldn't be the first thought of anyone trying to figure out why Bruce was single. Although he supposed the Hulk could be considered part of the 'science' category. 

"Not exactly," he said. "Betty was... a true colleague. We worked well together. But then things happened, and I was gone for too long. She's married now. Two kids." 

"Ouch," Jane responded. "Did you... want that? With her?" Jane suddenly realized that her insatiable curiosity was once again overriding any common sense she might have had about conversing with people. "If you don't mind my asking. Seriously, tell me to shut up if I'm being too nosy. Darcy has to do that all the time." 

Bruce smiled, and said, "I will." But he didn't tell her to stop. Instead he gazed into the middle distance and considered her question. 

"I did once," he said at last. "But I'm... very different than I was then. I don't think I could just have a normal life, as much as I might want to. I've... slowly become resigned to the fact that my curiosity is... destructive, by nature. That the Other Guy isn't the only part of me that's an uncontrollable, terribly dangerous force of nature. And that maybe I can't change that because... I really don't want to." 

He looked up, then, meeting her eyes, bracing for her reaction to that. 

She was looking up at him like she'd found a missing piece of the puzzle that was her life; her eyes were softly dilated and she was licking her lips without seeming to notice. 

"Good," she said. "...Can I kiss you again?" 

He nodded, slightly dazedly. 

Bruce had the presence of mind to notice much more this time, like how small she was but how much force and intention were packed into her tiny body, how she clutched at his neck and crushed her mouth into his. 

She was nothing like Betty, but somehow contained everything that he had truly loved about her. The passion was there, the determination, the burning need to know and to experience. She wasn't gentle like Betty had been, but, unexpectedly, Bruce didn't have it in him to mourn that as a loss. Not with all the things he'd experienced, the ways he'd changed since he'd been Betty's. 

Betty had been an angel, glowing with warmth, but Jane was a star, a sun, burning bright and hot, all-consuming. She was not home, she was not safe. She was pure, terrifying adventure. 

She would have made a formidable queen. 

Bruce pulled away, breathing hard. "I don't doubt that you meant _that_ ," he said with a small but sparkling smile surrounded by disheveled hair. 

He was... completely adorable. Jane wanted to keep him. 

And... Jane was falling in love. Again. She did that a lot, actually. It was getting a little bit ridiculous. She should really stop. 

Instead, she smiled helplessly and leaned into Bruce, keeping her arms where they were, wound around his neck. "Good," she said, "because I really did." 

Bruce cleared his throat. "Well," he said. "I guess we should get on with the science." 

"Science! Right!" Jane said, coming to attention again. "I've got the initial readings from the disruption, and I'd like your help determining how much of this radiation is from the portal itself, and how much is from the environment beyond...." 

A few minutes later, Judy swiveled around on the pilot's seat, smirking at the way the others were entwined. 

"When I signed the lot of you on to this expedition," she said, "I thought you'd be useful to me. I didn't think you four would be needing my services as a chaperone." 

Bruce smiled apologetically at her. Jane rolled her eyes. 

FitzSimmons didn't even lift their heads out of their happy little bubble.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is all there is. I accomplished everything I had in mind. The prompt walked into my head and left me with this and pretty much nothing more except possibly giant squid aliens running hydroelectric plants. I'd love to see other people take a crack at this, if they're inspired to do so.


End file.
